SANTA BARBARA, Calif- The Gaucho Women fought hard, but ultimately fell against University of San Francisco, 5-2.

Finishing up their season opener weekend today, the Gauchos finish with a 2-1 winning record, losing their first match of the season today against University of San Francisco.

“I think the team did really well today, even though we lost against USF, the spirit and attitude of everyone was very good! We were all supporting each other all the time and fighting until the end. Having teammates to cheer you on makes a huge difference and it’s really important,” Freshman Priscila Garcia comments.

The women fought hard in doubles with Paola Cos and Erica Cano coming out with a win at number 3 against Akerbrandt/Irish 8-4. Unfortunately we were unable to pull out a second win in doubles and were not able to capture the crucial doubles point.

“We fought hard today, San Francisco was a bit more fresh than us, but we are very happy with our first week end, and will definitely improve a lot from it” Coach Thibodeau

Starting singles down 0-1, the gaucho women felt the pressure from San Francisco and Priscila Garcia came back fast with a win against Brooke Irish, 6-2, 6-1. This evened things up to 1-1, making each match crucial to the win.

Stacy Yam was able to battle through her opponent at the number 6 slot 6-3, 6-0, bringing the girls to a 2-1 lead. The next four matches were tough battles but we were unable to pull out another win, making the final score 2-5.

Garcia, new to the gaucho team, comments on transitioning, “This is all new to me because in Brazil we don’t have team competitions a lot. I really like playing as a team and it helps me enjoy tennis even more. I never feel that I’m alone even if it is an individual sport. I hope that I can keep improving and helping the team to get better results.”